Coastal restoration plan totals $50 billion

Wednesday

Jan 16, 2013 at 7:53 PM

While damage from the 2010 BP oil spill is not fully understood, money is becoming available to help protect and sustain the southern Louisiana coast, a government official told the South Central Industrial Association Tuesday.

Sable LeFrereStaff Writer

While damage from the 2010 BP oil spill is not fully understood, money is becoming available to help protect and sustain the southern Louisiana coast, a government official told the South Central Industrial Association Tuesday.The state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has identified 109 projects that could benefit the coast when it developed its 2012 Coastal Management Plan, and there are now three funding sources, said Drue Banta, counsel to the governor for coastal activities.“It’s a 50-year, $50 billion plan. It’s very aggressive,” Banta said. Banta said the funding sources are the Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Civil and Administrative Clean Water Act Penalties and Criminal Clean Water Act Penalties.“The NRDA was set forth by federal laws and passed in 1990 after the Exxon Valdez oil spill,” she said.The assessment fund will help restore damaged resources and restore natural habitats, she said. “It might take up to 10 years to do assessment. They would have to test sediment samples, water samples and tissue samples from animals. It is very expensive, and BP has joined in on it,” Banta said.Banta said BP has agreed to fund $70 million for 10 projects. Some of those projects include the Oyster Re-establishment Program, which involves placing oyster clusters on about 850 acres of public seed grounds throughout coastal Louisiana so oyster larvae can get attached and grow. Another project is the construction of an oyster hatchery at Grand Isle.The Clean Water Act was signed into law last June and provides money to five Gulf states from 80 percent of administrative and civil penalties paid by the parties responsible for the 2010 oil spill. The remaining 20 percent will be directed to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Thirty-five percent of the oil spill fine money will be split equally between Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida for environmental and economic recovery along the coast. Another 60 percent will be dispersed by a restoration council, which will be made up of the federal chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the secretary of the interior, the secretary of the Army, the secretary of commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, the secretary of agriculture and the head of the Coast Guard. It will also include governors from all five states or their appointed representatives. Of that 60 percent, 30 percent must be sent to states based on factors such as oil spill impacts and coastal population. The other 30 percent will be used to implement a coastal restoration plan developed by the council, focusing on projects that have been authorized and are ready to move forward quickly.Terrebonne and Lafourche could both see projects come out of the percentage allocated to the Gulf states, Banta said, and this left some SCIA members hopeful.“It’s a very big topic involving a lot of money, and there are many ways it can be distributed,” said Mart Black, senior planner for Providence Technical Services LLC in Houma. “The devil is in the details, and it could take a long time before it’s a reality for Louisiana, but I hope they will restore our coast.” The criminal fines and penalties against BP will also help with the oil spill damage, she said.“BP has to pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties over five years and plead guilty to 14 counts,” she said. “About $2.4 billion goes to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and $150 million is for barrier-island restoration and river diversion in Louisiana.”

Staff Writer Sable LeFrere can be reached at 985-857-2204 or at sable.lefrere@houmatoday.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.